Know-How Exchange : Branding

I agree with Vaerianm above - more information required! It will be a completley different animal if you are targeting tourists or business investors.

No answers here I'm afraid – only more questions - but I believe that finding the answers to some simple questions will lead you to writing the article you need!

1. Find out what India's Brand equity is -
• What are peoples positive and negative perceptions of India?
• What do you want to change about these perceptions?
• How can you portray the positive image of the subcontinent - (the booming IT sector? the passion of the people? an entrepreneurial spirit? history? diversity?)
• What makes India different (from China or Thailand for example)
• How has India changed in the last 100/50/10/ 1 year(s).
• Where does India want to be in the next 10 years?
• What are India's strengths/weakness/opportunities?

2. Create a strong identity based on the findings of above... treat India as a company and create a strong corporate identity with all the visual elements that entails – a logo/symbol/typeface that easily identifies India at a glance. Decide how your brand architechure - For instance is "India" the masterbrand and "Assam or Goa" subrands? How do they fit together? How do you tell a consistent story while highlighting the diversity of such a vast subcontinent? Expand the "corporate identity" into a powerful visual identity - establish the look & feel (color palette, imagery, typography etc) and tone of voice you wish to communicate.

3. Ensure all the important relevant people are involved, excited and motivated about the identity, see the benefits, and can become proud advocates of it.

4. Develop a plan to communicate that identity to your target market!

It would be a fascinating project to work on!

Certaingly the key elements are:

need to understand how this brand refers? Is it to bring business into India or to bring tourist
How India is positioned against its competitors.
Whats the tend of business or tourists looking at India and its major competition?

You need to start to understand the following in detail:

Markets - you need a complete understanding of the markets India serves and how they view India. Understand the size of the markets, buying patterns, trends, customer profiles etc

Positioning - how is India positioned in these markets and how are Indias competitors positioned.

Differentiator - Fully understand how India is differentiated from it competitors.

Onc you have all this, you then need to look into what personality India should be portraying (logo, look, style, advertising, PR etc)

Good Luck